Hammond tells EU: It takes two to tango on Brexit deal
EUROPEAN business leaders were urged by Chancellor Philip Hammond last night to speak out to ensure Britain does not suffer “punishment” from Brussels for leaving the EU.
In a charm offensive ahead of the next round of Brexit negotiations, he used a speech at an economic summit in Germany to make a direct appeal over the heads of bloc leaders for support for a trade deal.
He said Britain had put forward a vision of a “mutually beneficial partnership” with the EU and now it was Europe’s turn to respond. “It takes two to tango,” Mr Hammond insisted.
His “challenge” to business leaders was being seen as a direct appeal to put pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.
Punishment
It followed concerns among UK officials that Mrs Merkel is seeking to block British demands for a bespoke trade deal.
Over dinner at the Die Welt economic summit, Mr Hammond declared that business leaders could help get rid of the “narrative of punishment for leaving” the EU that was circulating in Brussels.
“They say it takes two to tango,” the Chancellor said of the current stage in the negotiations.
“Both sides need to be clear about what they want from a future relationship. I know the repeated complaint from Brussels has been that the UK hasn’t made up its mind what type of relationship it wants.
“But in London, many feel that we have little, if any, signal of what future relationship the EU27 would like to have with a post-Brexit Britain. Since the referendum in the UK, there has been a marked asymmetry between the enthusiasm expressed by certain third countries to pursue future trade deals with the UK and the relative silence, in public at least, from Europe on what the EU wants our future relationship to look like.”
He told business chiefs: “I fear that many EU opinion-formers see this as a question only for British politicians, for British voters to resolve.”
He urged them to signal a willingness to work together “in a spirit of pragmatic cooperation” on a future, mutually beneficial, partnership.” Mr Hammond’s trip to Berlin yesterday was part of a major drive to win over business opinion in Germany.
EU Exit Secretary David Davis is to meet chief executives in Munich today. And ahead of their visits, Mr Hammond and Mr Davis used a joint article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper to appeal for German support against the EU imposing trade barriers on Britain. “As two of Europe’s biggest economies, it makes no sense to either Germany or Britain to put in place unnecessary barriers to trade in goods and services that would only damage businesses and economic growth on both sides of the Channel,” they wrote.
Prime Minister Theresa May is due to meet finance leaders today to update them on Brexit after telling MPs yesterday the Government was “doing well” in the negotiations.
ANOTHER piece of evidence that the EU will stop at nothing to do us down. Our senior politicians are warning that a botched Brexit deal would not just be bad for Britain but risks a global economic slump. And yet still Angela Merkel remains intransigent, threatening to derail a “bespoke” trade deal.
The people of Germany have still not forgiven Mrs Merkel for her catastrophically foolish decision to open Germany’s borders and allow in millions of immigrants. She should think about how the world will judge her if her actions result in a massive global downturn. It is imperative that we come to an arrangement which is mutually advantageous to both Britain and the EU. Spite and vindictiveness have no part to play here.